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Super sports Saturday

Paul — Fri, 18 May 2012 22:02:20 +0000

Today is a great day for watching sport with two great showdowns on. Whether you spend the day watching it in the pub or on your comfy couch at home, it will certainly be a day to remember. First up is Ulster versus Leinster in the Heineken Cup final which is on Sky Sports 3 from 3pm (GMT) with kickoff at 5pm. This all Ireland affair will be a close battle from two teams with a lot to prove.

Then it’s the turn of Bayern Munich to play Chelsea in the final of the UEFA Champions League. You can watch this game on RTÉ2 or ITV1, both are available online. Coverage starts at 7pm with kickoff at 7:45pm. Bayern with home advantage will have to take on the on-form Chelsea, who been outstanding in their last few games.

The other big game in GAA is Roscommon v Galway (Throw-in 4.00pm GMT). Coverage of the Connacht Senior Football Championship quarter-final at Dr Hyde Park. The winners will play a semi-final clash against Sligo.

The worst part of RTÉ Player

Paul — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:41:34 +0000

We watch a lot of TV, and there is one aspect that is missing on the RTE Player, it’s (http://www.rte.ie/player/) the ads. It’s not so much the lack of ads, rather it’s how your TV watching experience is interrupted. I’m sure its technically possible to show RTÉ’s own in house ads, or play a bit of music. But right now all that happens is you get a black page screen saying “Commercial Break” and silence. So when the programming comes back on, you get thrown abruptly back into things.

Why doesn’t RTÉ Player have ads ?

We guess that RTE doesn’t have the capacity to charge advertisers for the ads displayed on the RTE player. But it’s not like it would be that difficult to implement, they could put a loop of ads rather than showing the black silent screen. This new ad stream would generate revenue for RTE and maybe it would give them the much needed cash they are screaming for this week. And it would possibly lead to a better user experience overall.

Show me the ads !

So what would you prefer ? Annoying ads or the black mute screen ?

Ultimate VPN list

Paul — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:02:31 +0000

We’ve put a comprehensive list of all the VPN providers out there we could find. We’ve currently listed almost 80 providers of VPN services, if we’ve missed a company please do let us know. While it’s not possible to test every VPN, we have selected our recommended VPN providers, where we’ve looked at four of these providers in detail and broken the information in an easy manner.

Differences in VPNs

As with any industry, there is a vast difference in what these VPN companies provide, some offer increased flexibility with IP addresses, some compete on cost or support offerings, and then there is the point of speed of their network. We do recommend that you do your research, and make sure that the VPN providers are trustworthy. You are potentially giving them some very private information, i.e. your internet browsing history, so it’s important that you go with a reputable company. You want to make sure your network is secure, whether you are travelling abroad, using public or open WiFi, or even when you are using a non-trusted network, like at a client’s office.

TorrentFreak recent did a survey about what types of logs they keep, and under what conditions would these companies offer up the logs. Cases have occurred where government agencies have requested logs, and depending on the operator, your VPN details may be passed over. Some providers don’t even record logs, so there isn’t any logs to hand over.

What ever is your criteria, we do recommend that you do your research before purchasing. Or better still test a few VPNs at the same time, and see what one you get on with the best.

Ultimate VPN list

England vs Ireland on TV

Paul — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 08:54:40 +0000

Today is the final day of the 2012 rugby 6 nations, and there will be three games on TV today. First off is Italy vs. Scotland at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Here Scotland will be desperately trying to avoid getting the wooden spoon. Both teams have racked up 4 losses in this years competition. After Scotland’s failure last week, and Italy’s ever increasing form, the game will come down to the wire. Kickoff is at 12:30pm GMT, or 1:30pm local time. BBC starts coverage at 12:10pm on BBC1. RTÉ will also cover the game, with their programming starting at 12:00pm on RTE2.

The main focus of the competition today will take place at Millennium Stadium, in Cardiff, where Wales will face France. Wales has already blown everyone away from the competition, but the prestigious Gram Slam stands between them and 80 minutes of rugby. Again we predict it will be a close game, which kicks off at 2:45pm GMT, where Wales will have to pull another big performance out of the bag to win at home, and the French will be doing their best to stop Welsch bragging rights.

England vs. Ireland

Our focus wil be on the England vs. Ireland at Twickenham, in London. Kickoff of the final 6 nations game is at 5pm GMT. And it’s possible that the 2nd and 3rd place will be decided here. With a lot to prove both teams will be gunning for it from the off. Some of the team choices by Delcan Kidney have been questioned, but we’re willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Let’s see how the Irish players do ! Looking at the stats for the competition you see that has the healthiest points difference, and hopefully they will continue putting the tries away.

The Irish team

Here’s the team listing for today’s match :
Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Gordon D’Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 1 Cian Healy, 2 Rory Best (captain), 3 Mike Ross, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 6 Stephen Ferris, 7 Sean O’Brien, 8 Jamie Heaslip.

Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Mike McCarthy, 19 Peter O’Mahony, 20 Tomás O’Leary, 21 Ronan O’Gara, 22 Fergus McFadden.

Current Points standings

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	PD	TF	Pts
1	Wales	4	4	0	0	93	49	44	9	8
2	England	4	3	0	1	68	62	6	5	6
3	Ireland	4	2	1	1	112	64	48	13	5
4	France	4	2	1	1	92	70	22	8	5
5	Scotland	4	0	0	4	50	95	-45	4	0
6	Italy	4	0	0	4	40	115	-75	3	0

We’d like to wish all our readers a Happy St. Patrick’s day, where ever in the world you are watching the game today

Using a VPN while abroad

Paul — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 10:27:35 +0000

When you are traveling abroad this summer you should keep in mind that you should secure your internet connection. While on holiday or on a work trip it’s nice to be able to check your emails, and check weather, flights, etc. But is doing so putting your computer at risk ? There have been numerous cases of peoples email passwords being stolen when using public WiFi or even worse, trojans being installed on your computer.

The basic rule here is not to trust any outside internet connection, even if you are just travelling to the next town or on a public WiFi in a library. All of these are open to attacks. There are also different types of attacks. Some are done by the person offering the WiFi network, while others can be performed by someone just being on the same network as you.

Protecting your internet while abroad

These public networks can monitor web traffic, and unless these connections are travelling over a secure & encrypted path, then usernames and passwords can be picked right out of the air. Many websites do use HTTPS for sending passwords, and on some it’s an extra option. When in doubt don’t send any personal information when you are not on a secured connection.

It’s possible to hijack the data that you are sending over this open network. But it can be avoid by using a VPN. A VPN will encrypt your internet traffic in the first stage, by creating a secure connection via your computer, going through the hotel / open WiFi, and to the VPN server. These severs can be in any location, e.g. the US, UK, or even Ireland. Then your request for a webpage will leave these servers from where it’s located, from a trusted source, rather than leaving directly from the coffee shop open WiFi.

This is why you should have a VPN plan, which costs about $8 per month. If you travel regularly, or use unprotected networks often, then this is a small price for keeping your computer and your personal details safe.

Detecting HTTPS / SSL connections

All banks, or at least all reputable banks, employ the SSL connections for your login to their online bank system. See below for an example of the green HTTPS in the URL. In internet browsers it’s often depicted with a green or blue https , or sometimes a green bar. The important bit is the https:// in the URL. If you click on the URL you can get some further information about the SSL certificate.

Bank SSL connection

Detecting a trojan on your computer

If you have been unlucky enough to have a trojan install on your computer you might notice it via the following symptoms

Abnormal Behaviour: while this is a bit vague, but if you find your screen flickering , windows open for a second and then closing, or requests to access strange websites, then you should check your computer.
Slower Computer Speed: as your computer gets older, it generally gets filled with programs and it might slow down naturally. But if you find that your computer is suddenly a lot slower, then you should look into this. The reason is that a trojan could be running in the background, potentially sending out nefarious traffic like emails or part of DOS (Denial of Service) attacks.
E-Mail Symptoms: Is your email program acting strange ? Is it running slowly, taking a lot of time to send and receive emails, even though you are not sending many emails ? There might be a small program sending out emails on behalf of a spammer via your account. This could even result in your email account being banned by your ISP or email host.
Offline Symptoms: Is your computer requesting access to the internet when you are offline ? This might be okay if you are looking at a webpage, or you’ve told your email client to send / receive emails. But if you computer is just sitting idle, then it is not normal for it to ask you to connect to the internet.
Pop-Up Advertisements: if your internet browser starts to show your pop ups on random pages, that don’t seem related to the area you are surfing. Then you should check your internet settings, as the trojan may have changed how your browser connects to the internet.

If you have any of these symptoms then you should run your virus checker on your entire computer file system.

Ireland vs Scotland on TV

Paul — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 08:48:27 +0000

Today Ireland play Scotland at the Aviva Stadium on Landstowne Rd in Dublin. This is their 4th game of the 2012 Rugby 6 nations. After Ireland’s draw last week against the French, Ireland will be trying their best to show fans that they are capable of winning. The side is a little bit diminished and the absence of Paul O’Connell, Conor Murray compared with their game in Stade de France. The side will be captained by Rory Best, replacing O’Connell. There are some previews of the game available from RTÉ rugby and by Conor O’Shea for RTÉ.

Irish Panel

Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Gordon D’Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 1 Cian Healy, 2 Rory Best, 3 Mike Ross, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 6 Stephen Ferris, 7 Peter O’Mahony, 8 Jamie Heaslip.

Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Mike McCarthy, 19 Shane Jennings 20 Tomas O’Leary, 21 Ronan O’Gara, 22 Fergus McFadden

Lineout time for Ireland & Scotland

Stations showing the game

If you want to watch the game online you can do so via the following services:

RTÉ Player : on RTÉ2 http://www.rte.ie/player/#l=7
BBC iPlayer: on BBC 1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/tv/bbc_one_london/watchlive

If you are not in Ireland or the UK, you can find details on how to watch the game online.
The game starts at 5pm GMT, and both stations are starting coverage at 2pm and will show the Wales vs. Italy game which stats at 2:30pm GMT.

France vs. Ireland on ice

Paul — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 08:59:35 +0000

Betfair (the online betting portal) has put together a rather funny video about the France vs. Ireland rugby game that never was. They’ve staged a re-inaction of the game, but played out on an actual ice rink. It’s all quite interesting to watch, perhaps it will new sport in the future. Tackling is a little bit dangerous, especially when ice skates are involved. Scrums on ice were quite interesting, as griping on the ice is a bit of a challenge. And then there is lineouts !

Watch France vs. Ireland

We won’t spoil it for you by telling you the score, but needless to say it’s a close one.

The actual France/Ireland game is scheduled for March 4th at 3pm GMT. It will be shown on BBC as well as RTÉ2.

One other viral website we came across this week, which is totally unrellated, but nonetheless worth checking see http://marrybacon.com/.

France v. Ireland rugby game rescheduled

Paul — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:16:27 +0000

The France versus Ireland game is to be rescheduled for Sunday March 4th Stade de France, at 16:00 CET (local time) / 15:00 GMT (Irish time). The game was postponed last week due to a frozen pitch, and was deemed to be unsafe to play on just 2 minutes before the game.

Details on the ticketing, and refunding of tickets for the old game will be announced tomorrow. It’s predicted that tickets are still valid for the new game, or people can request refunds based on their ticket stubs. What will happen if you don’t have your ticket anymore we’re not too sure. Lots of people throw away their tickets once they are inside the stadium.

Let’s see how the game goes on March 4th !

Watch Ireland vs France 6 Nations online

Paul — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 10:56:18 +0000

Today’s match of France vs. Ireland at Stade de France will be shown on both on RTÉ 2 [RTE Sports] & BBC 2 [iPlayer]. Ireland will be desperately trying to put the embarrassing defeat last weekend against Scotland at Landstowne Road behind them. The result last week game as a bit of a shock, but a series of silly mistakes cost the Irish squad dearly. The last time Ireland played against the French at Stade de France they lost by 33-10, and so all to play for this evening. The weather conditions in France are cold, so playing will be difficult.

Other 6 nations games

BBC1 is showing the Italy vs. England game today, and the Wales vs. Scotland game on Sunday. For kickoff times check the 2012 6 nations schedule. Do remember that these times are in GMT, so you may want to adjust the time where ever you are watching the game across the world.

Watch the 6 nations on your iPad

Paul — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:39:17 +0000

The 2012 6 nations has started and there are more and more ways you can watch the premier rugby event. If you live abroad previously the only option was to watch it in an Irish Bar, but now, thanks to the advancements in internet TV you can watch it from the comfort of your home anywhere in the world. Providers like BBC and RTÉ have great iPhone, iPad & Android apps for your mobile devices and of course you can watch it via your internet browser on your laptop or Desktop. The quality of these broadcasts are really good, and with the right cabling you could even hook it up to your TV. iPad 2′s for example have a connector that you can get HDMI-out from it. A lot does depend on the speed of your connection, some sort of broadband is required to insure that your live feed isn’t interrupted with video buffering.

Generally any connection that has more than 2 Mbps should be enough to maintain a good quality. Video broadcasting online has evolved, and now providers tend to dynamically detect your connection quality, and deliver the highest quality broadcast for that connection speed. You could in theory view the 6 nations on a slower connection, but the picture quality may be diminished.

Here is a screenshot of us watching it on the iPad 2

What devices have you watched the game on ?